For entrepreneurs interested in starting a business, a franchise can be a great way to begin at an advantage. You’ll have a recognizable name and the support that comes from being part of a larger organization, while still enjoying the independence of being in charge. With a little research on the front end, you can avoid unpleasant surprises and ensure you’re prepared.
The International Franchise Association maintains a directory of franchises that are approved by the SBA to receive SBA funding. Each franchisor in the directory is required to submit a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) with information about its company to the SBA for approval. Working with a company that is pre-approved by the SBA will expenditure the process of obtaining an SBA loan for your franchise.
Length of lease term. Landlords are typically willing to make concessions for longer-term leases. However, your company’s needs may change and you could find yourself locked into a lease for an office space that is too small, too big, or with rent that is above-market if demand for space subsequently declines. Try to negotiate a shorter-term lease with renewal options—a two-year lease with a two-year renewal option, for instance, rather than a four-year lease.
It is important to protect your company’s intellectual property (IP). Ever wary of minimizing burn rate, startups may be tempted to defer investment in intellectual property protection. To those who have not tried to protect intellectual property, it feels complex and expensive. Too often, startups end up forfeiting intellectual property rights by neglecting to protect their ideas and inventions.
The ROBS option allows you to use funds from your retirement savings to finance your franchise without paying early withdrawal penalties and taxes. This can be an attractive option for franchisees that struggle to get traditional loans and are comfortable with some amount of risk. Those with substantial retirement savings may feel most sanguine removing a portion of those funds for this purpose.
As a member of the ConsumerAffairs Research Team, Kate Williams, Ph.D. believes everyone deserves easy access to accurate and comprehensive information on products and businesses before they make a purchase. She spends countless hours researching companies and industries before writing buyers guides to make sure consumers have all the information they need to make smart, informed buying decisions.
Tom's roles have included time as a writer, editor, journalist, videographer, presenter, educator, web designer, layout artist, and public relations executive. Since 2006, he's freelanced for publications and private clients including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Apple, Nature.com, and the San Francisco Chronicle. A frequent traveler, he moved from his native US to the Netherlands in 2016. Connect with him at http://tomgeller.com.
Loans backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) are a favorite of franchisees, since they tend to have higher limits and lower rates than commercial loans. However, SBA loans come with strict requirements, including the need to prove that you don’t have the ability to obtain a loan from traditional lenders. Partner institutions disburse and administer the loans with SBA approval and application requirements tend to be quite extensive.
When you get a HELOC your personal home will be used as collateral. This means that if you fail to make payments in the future then you could lose your home. That is the risk that comes with the benefits of receiving access to low interest rate funds as you need them. With a HELOC you can borrow up to 80-90% of your home equity with an APR as low as 3%. You must have a credit score of at least 650 to qualify.

While many business experts believe that you should get into a business you are passionate about, it is important that you consider the market’s demand as well as your target demographics. You can’t start a business about something you love and expect people to patronize your services or your products on the get go. The success of a franchise hinges on a lot of factors, but demand and the target market should top your list.

It’s natural to consider if these options are worth the possible bad effects down the road. Of course, for some business owners, not getting more financing as soon as possible could mean having to take drastic measures—even closing the business. The silver lining here is that most of the above will help recover your credit if you keep in good standing and make on time payments. There is a caveat: if you can’t make on time payments, these options will sink your business into debt and make matters worse.
Fundation (see our review) is another high-quality alternative lender that provides capital to franchise businesses. Fundation has some of the lowest rates and fees you can find outside of a bank or credit union, offering up to $500,000 deposited in your account within a couple weeks after applying. However, the borrower requirements are more stringent than those for other some online lenders, as you’ll need good credit, one year’s time in business, and at least three full-time employees.
Using a stock loan (securities-based financing) allows a potential franchisee to leverage the value of their stocks without giving up ownership of the stocks. Securities based financing allows potential small business owners to get fast, affordable funding, while also having the ability to keep all the upside of keeping their stocks (dividends and stock price growth). Funding usually comes in the form of a line of credit backed by the stocks’ value.
Your business plan is essential to get approved for a loan. If you don’t have one yet, it’s time to create one. You need to show, with specific numbers, how you’ll earn money, how you’ll spend it, and your big-picture strategy. Explain who all of the players are in your business, especially management, marketing, and sales roles – those individuals will bring in new business that helps pay for the loan. It’s okay if you do all of those jobs – just explain why that is and your track record of success in those areas.
The challenge is even greater for franchise owners looking to open new locations. They must pay a “franchise fee” amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, and the aforementioned deductions begin as soon as the new location opens its doors. Combine these expenses with inevitabilities like new equipment or furniture and you can see why business loans are popular for franchises. Multiple large expenses can easily pile up at the same time, making it extremely difficult to raise profits or save money.

If you own an existing franchise and are looking for working capital financing, then you’ll likely have even more options than you had when you started your business. These loans can be used to fund any business activity, such as to make payroll or to make equipment purchases. The table below shows some of the best options for working capital franchise financing and who each might be a good fit for.

Starting a business entails understanding and dealing with many issues—legal, financing, sales and marketing, intellectual property protection, liability protection, human resources, and more. But interest in entrepreneurship is at an all-time high. And there have been spectacular success stories of early stage startups growing to be multi-billion-dollar companies, such as Uber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Airbnb, and many others.

Think about your daily routine, you might stop at a coffee shop in the morning, perhaps you workout at the gym in the afternoon or go for dinner with friends in the evening. Every place that you visit, and every business you connect with during that day, exists because of an idea and an entrepreneur. Whether that entrepreneur comes from a family of business owners, or is starting out on their own with no previous experience, running their business requires a set of key skills. But what are the skills you need and how do you acquire them?

Various financial aid programs help certain types of businesses and borrower start up franchises. For instance, some companies have programs designed to attract women and minority candidates. Many others offer discounts on franchise fees for veterans who are interested in franchising. You can find a list of options in the International Franchise Association’s VetFran Directory.
If you own a home, and have 20-30% equity in it, then you may be able to get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) with a low interest rate. These funds are great to start a business, and can be used for any of your startup fees, including your franchise fees. With a HELOC you can get access to a lump sum immediately and draw against the total as you need it. Like a normal business line of credit, you only pay interest on what you’re using.
For existing franchises looking for working capital, another form of alternative financing comes from monetizing the franchise’s balance sheet to obtain funding. Using the franchise’s commercial real estate, or by tapping into the franchise owner’s personal real estate, an asset based lender can collateralize the real estate and provide working capital up to 90% of the real estate’s equity.
Eligible funds received through this program can be used for business conversion, repair or enlargement; the purchase and development of land or buildings; the purchase of equipment; debt refinancing as long as new jobs will be created as a result; and/or business and industrial acquisitions when the loan will save and/or create jobs and/or the loan will keep the business open.

Make sure you do your research before diving into any franchise brand by checking out the International Franchise Association or the SBA Franchise Directory. Read a franchise disclosure document carefully before signing any franchise agreement, and be sure you’re ready to commit a relationship with the franchise brand of your choice. Happy applying and best of luck buying a franchise!

“My credit is very strong and I owned my house outright. So when I realized the SBA loan would take too long, I decided to go to my personal bank and apply for a HELOC. The whole process took less than two weeks, the interest rates were great, and I never looked back. I was even allowed to use the HELOC for my franchise fee, which other financing wouldn’t allow.”
You need to be prepared for a rejection of your loan, and you need to be prepared to re-work your business plan, save more money or do whatever else the loan officer suggests to secure a loan. It can be hard not to take a rejection personally, but remember that the lender is not rejecting you or your business idea–they are simply rejecting the opportunity to help you finance your business. You need to rework your business plan and/or secure more capital before you try again.
For most business experts and established entrepreneurs, buying an existing franchise through franchise loans presents a lot of advantages not present if you opt to start your business from scratch. Purchasing a franchise, especially a popular one, enables you to start with a large and solid client base, a crucial element during the initial stages of a business venture. Another obvious benefit is that building up the brand does not take much effort in contrast to promoting a new business name.
Then, in What You Need to Know When You Run Your Business Out of Your Home and How to Set Up a Retirement Plan for You and Your Employees, we'll discuss some information that may be relevant to you now-- or that may become relevant once your business has become established. The final four lessons... What You Need to Know about Federal Taxes when Hiring Employees or Independent Contractors, How to Manage Payroll so You Withhold the Correct Amount from Employees, How to Make Tax Deposits and File a Return to Report Your Payroll Taxes. And Hiring People Who Live in the U.S. but Who Aren't U.S. Citizens, ....are for those employers who already have, or who are thinking about hiring, employees. Because this is a virtual workshop, you can choose the lessons that apply to you.
So it pays to have a comfortable cushion, just in case things don’t pan out as expected. And it’s much easier and cheaper to arrange funding when times are good than it is when you’re desperate. Of course, you don’t want to be paying interest on unnecessary debt either, but there are funding options, like lines of credit, that you only pay for when you activate them. In any case, it’s worth researching your options early on.
The ability to communicate effectively can be critical to landing customers, inspiring employees, and pitching to investors to raise capital. Most people are not very good at public speaking and many are even afraid of it. You must strive to overcome this fear. Consider working with a public speaking or business coach to improve your public speaking skills. Some of the most recognized entrepreneurs, such as Apple founder Steve Jobs, were known for being great public speakers.
Outside of the typical startup costs, there are different costs that are unique to franchise businesses. First is the franchise fee, an upfront fee to the franchisor for the right to use the company’s branding and model. It can be paid in a lump sum or in installments, and varies widely by industry and company. It will likely to be at least $10,000 – sometimes substantially higher – and is typically nonrefundable. Franchisors are also likely to charge recurring royalty and marketing fees – usually arranged as a percentage of sales at the franchisee’s store – usually 4 to 8 percent for royalties and 2 to 4 percent for marketing.
Overcoming this problem is easier than it used to be, thanks to the plethora of marketing opportunities on the internet. Many of them, of course, are free or low cost, but don’t forget that your time is also an investment. So don’t make the mistake of signing up for every social media site out there and letting your valuable time dribble away in tweets and status updates.
Overcoming this problem is easier than it used to be, thanks to the plethora of marketing opportunities on the internet. Many of them, of course, are free or low cost, but don’t forget that your time is also an investment. So don’t make the mistake of signing up for every social media site out there and letting your valuable time dribble away in tweets and status updates.
Ideally, your Instagram profile picture should be an image of your logo and be the same one displayed on your website and other social media platforms. For the mobile app, your profile picture should be a minimum of 110 pixels width x 110 pixels height. Your picture will be shown in a circle, so your logo has to be clear when cropped. Have a look at how Deputy’s logo is clearly displayed on our Instagram account.

In most cases, franchise owners provide technical support, equipment, and other necessary materials to their franchisees. Also, fellow franchisees can merge and share best practices, business approaches, and marketing strategies to colleagues whose business acumen and management skills are still developing. Simply put, there are a lot of good reasons why starting a business by buying a franchise will be a success.

The key is to connect the work they love with something that other people also love. Not everything you love can be turned into a successful business. I used to play video games, and no matter how good I was at Halo, no one came along to give me a check. However, I later learned that there were *other* things I loved -- international travel, creative self-employment, writing -- that I could in fact monetize.
Balboa Capital works with franchisees in the quick service restaurant, fast casual dining, hospitality, and fitness industries. Helping you get the best financing solution is our primary goal, but we never forget the importance of excellent customer service. Your experienced Balboa Capital franchise financing manager will work closely with you and is committed to your success. Once we earn your business, you will see why we are fully accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
That is why you should use an administrative service to manage your loan, and give you a professional platform to raise the money and make payments to. This can make it easier for people you know to lend money to your business, and you won’t have to worry about any of the paperwork or tax implications. It could also improve your chances at getting funded.
Hiring costs – As a franchise owner, you are a business owner responsible for hiring, training, and retaining employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary of a retail worker was $10.60/hour in 2015, but that doesn’t include the time it takes to hire and train employees and the costs of employee benefits, health insurance, and business insurance.
Microlenders are nonprofits that typically lend short-term loans of less than $35,000. The APR on these loans is typically higher than that of bank loans. The application may require a detailed business plan and financial statements, as well as a description of what the loan will be used for, making it a lengthy process. Also, the size of the loans is, by definition, “micro.” But these loans may work well for smaller companies or startups that can’t qualify for traditional bank loans, due to a limited operating history, poor personal credit or a lack of collateral.